Department for Business and Trade

Signature of the Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Confederation on Recognition of Professional Qualifications

Lord Johnson of Lainston: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State of Business and Trade (Kemi Badenoch MP) has today made the following statement.On 14 June 2023 the UK and Switzerland signed the UK-Switzerland agreement on the recognition of professional qualifications (RPQ).The UK and Switzerland are two global leaders in services trade with deep links between our economies. In 2022, Switzerland was the UK’s 3rd largest partner for services trade, with £23.7 billion in total services trade (imports and exports).Interim arrangements on RPQ were concluded with Switzerland ahead of EU exit. The ‘UK-Switzerland Citizens’ Rights Agreement’) amongst other things rolled over the existing (EU-based) processes for recognising qualifications until 2024.Given the strength of both our services economies, and the importance of the RPQ in facilitating trade, it is vital that we establish longer-term arrangements for such recognition to replace these interim arrangements when they expire. Professional services businesses and stakeholders have also made clear the value that they place on smooth and transparent processes for RPQ with Switzerland.This agreement provides such arrangements, establishing long-term: Easier access for UK qualified professionals who want to practise in Switzerland, requiring regulators to provide a route to recognition.Smoother processes for assessing applications – requiring reasonable decision times, reasonable application fees, and clear and transparent guidance on requirements.Bespoke access for the world-leading UK legal profession, an important export market adding £29billion gross value to the economy annually.This agreement will provide certainty for UK and Swiss professionals regarding the arrangements for recognition of their professional qualifications. It will bring tangible, long-term benefits to the UK, simplifying processes for UK professional services businesses that trade in Switzerland.The agreement also safeguards regulators’ autonomy to set and maintain professional standards, to assess against these, and to decide who is fit to practise the profession.Securing this agreement is an important step in establishing a new long-term trading relationship with Switzerland, alongside the UK-Swiss FTA negotiations which I launched with my Swiss counterpart last month.The ambition is for this agreement to enter into force on the 1st January 2025, following the completion of domestic processes by both parties.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Creative Industries Update

Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay: I am repeating the following Written Ministerial Statement made today in the other place by my Right Honourable Friend, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lucy Frazer KC MP:Our creative industries are a true British success story. They drive economic growth at home - contributing £108 billion in 2021 to the UK economy - and are a brilliant global advert for our creativity and values.This government is determined to build on their world class excellence and I am today publishing a Creative Industries Sector Vision that will make sure we do that. This Vision is about maximising growth, nurturing young people’s talent and delivering on the creative potential that exists right across the country. By 2030 - working with industry - we plan to grow these industries by £50 billion of gross value added and support a million extra jobs with a pipeline of talent and opportunity for young people.This Vision is a blueprint for how we support creatives from their first day at school to their last day at work. It comprises a range of measures for young people to help them discover and nurture their skills at school. The Plan has targeted investments to help people when they are ready to start their own creative endeavours - with investment for early stage games studios, grassroots music venues and other creative pursuits. For those businesses, entrepreneurs and artists who are ready to mature, they will find support to help them break into new markets, develop their products from prototypes and access mentoring expertise.We also plan to build on the status of culture as one of the main drivers for levelling up and spreading growth across local economies. Among the centrepieces of this Vision are more funding for creative clusters to stimulate local growth, and providing opportunities for creative education and training people to support creative careers. We have already seen how clusters of excellence - from video games in Dundee to TV in Leeds - have helped draw in investment and nurture talent, and we want to replicate this success in more towns and cities across the UK.I would like to thank industry for their invaluable help in shaping and delivering the Vision, particularly the Creative Industries Council whose support and advice has been indispensable.I will place a copy of the Creative Industries Sector Vision in the Libraries of both Houses.Goals and Actions in the Sector VisionGoal One: Grow creative clusters across the UK, adding £50 billion more in Gross Value Added (GVA).We will:deliver the next £50 million wave of the Creative Industries Clusters Programme to support research and development (R&D) in at least six new clusters.provide £75.6 million to set up four new R&D labs and an Insight Foresight Unit across the UK as part of Convergent Screen Technologies and Performance in Realtime (CoSTAR) programme.increase the Create Growth Programme’s (CGP) budget by £10.9 million to a total of £28.4 million to support businesses in another six English regions.provide an additional £5 million for the UK Games Fund to invest in early-stage games studios, bringing its total value to £13.4 million.Extend and increase funding for Arts Council England’s (ACE) Supporting Grassroots Live Music fund with an additional £5 million over the next two years.triple the funding for the Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) to £3.2 million over 2023-25 to enable emerging artists to break into new international markets.in partnership with the Royal Anniversary Trust, launch a challenge designed to encourage innovation and growth in the creative industries.welcome the recommendations of the Pro-innovation Regulation of Technologies Review and make rapid progress to develop a code of practice on text and data mining to ensure creator rights are appropriately protected.Goal Two: Build a highly skilled, productive and inclusive workforce for the future, supporting one million more jobs across the UK.We will:publish a new Cultural Education Plan (CEP) in 2023, deliver the National Plan for Music Education (NPME) including £25 million for musical instruments, and explore opportunities for enrichment activities as part of the government’s wraparound childcare provision.improve creative apprenticeships, with regards to Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) engagement, training provision, relevance of standards and the effectiveness and sustainability of the Flexi-Job Model.support the rollout of T-Levels, and complementary high-quality, employer-led Level 3 qualifications that focus on good progression outcomes.work with industry so that they can take advantage of Skills Bootcamps at national and regional levels, and benefit from new Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) and the forthcoming Lifelong Loan Entitlement.set out, with industry, an action plan in response to the Independent Review of Job Quality and Working Practice in the creative industries. The CIC will launch a Charting Progress Tool to track the effectiveness of diversity and inclusion interventions.Goal Three: Maximise the positive impact of the creative industries on individuals and communities, the environment and the UK’s global standing.We will:deliver on the government’s commitment to creative excellence - supporting and promoting the very top end of our cultural and creative output to enhance soft power and boost exports. The government will provide new funding of £2 million to London Fashion Week to support five fashion weeks from 2023-25 and £1.7 million to the London Film Festival 2024.deliver the £80 million ‘Research infrastructure for conservation and heritage science’ (RICHeS) programme to secure the UK’s reputation for excellence in conservation and heritage science.support the Music Venues Trust to deliver their £3.5 million “Own Our Venues” pilot.implement the Broadcasting White Paper, Up Next.introduce an industry-led Creative Climate Charter.support Bradford to deliver the next UK City of Culture in 2025.